The present invention relates to a screen editor for editing and displaying screens, and more particularly to a screen editor which can edit the screen(s) and provide display control over a display unit which can display the screens while switching them from one to another.
Conventionally, a display unit which can display the screens while switching them provides a control over the display of the screens by using an input device such as a touch switch, a mouse, a keyboard or the like. This type of display unit initially displays an initial screen such as a menu when either the power is turned on or when starting the display control. When a screen to be displayed next is selected from the menu on this initial screen then the targeted screen is displayed. Thereafter the screens are shifted to another ones when the target screens are selected by using the input device.
In the conventional type of display unit described above, if there are a plurality of choices corresponding to each screen to be displayed next, then a plurality of touch switches or a plurality of keys corresponding to each choice are displayed on the screen for selection using the input device. Namely, if there are 10 choices, then a configuration is required which provides 10 switches or keys on the screen. Further, when the screens are shifted hierarchically, a switch or a key for returning to a screen at the higher level is required in addition to a screen for switching to a screen at lower level.
Consequently, the conventional type of display unit requires to prepare screen switching information (an information regarding the selectable number of screens) for selecting a next screen for each selectable screen and to set the information to all the corresponding switches.
However, in this type of display unit, if there are a number of screens selectable as a next screen, for example 100 or more, the amount of information as the screen switching information increases. In such a case a lot of time is required for setting the switching information for all the screens. Further, management of the shifting of the screens (hereafter referred to as screen shift) becomes complicated in association with increase in the screen switching information.
Further, when an unwanted screen has been deleted or when the target screen is changed, it is necessary to correct the screen switching information set for all of the related screens. In this case, a possibility of omission of correction or improper correction due to negligence can not be neglected.
Even when there are a small number of screens, it is necessary to create a graphic or a document(s) showing the hierarchical structure in order to manage shift states of each screen. Further, when a screen is deleted or a target screen is changed, it is required to concurrently correct all the documents related to the corresponding screens as well. The processing of creating and correcting the documents is carried out by shifting the screens displayed on the display unit by operating the input device, which also requires a lot of time to be spent.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a screen editor which can reduce a time required for setting the screen switching information, reduce a time required for creation of documents necessary for managing the shifting of the screens, and reduce a time required for correction of documents generated when a screen is deleted or when a target screen for shifting is changed. It also an object of the present invention to provide a screen editor which can accurately manage the shifting of the screens on a display unit.
A screen editor according to the present invention comprises a screen editing unit (which corresponds to a screen shift editing section 32 in an embodiment described later) for creating a screen shift chart in which a screen shift state is expressed in a hierarchical format and then automatically setting a screen switching information for each screen generated according to the screen shift chart, and a screen information preparing unit (which corresponds to a screen details preparing section 33 in Embodiment described later) for preparing display information in details for each screen and component information concerning an input device, while the screen editing unit edits the screens and performs display control of the display unit according to the screen information including the screen switching information, the display information, and the component information.
The screen editor according to this invention provides controls over editing of the screens and display on the display unit capable of switching displayed screens by an operation from an input device such as a touch switch, a mouse, or a keyboard. More specifically, the screen editing unit creates a screen shift chart through operation specified by a person who wants to create a screen, the screen editing unit then prepares the screen switching information for shifting a screen according to this screen shift chart and also automatically sets a switch or switches for selecting a screen to be switched (in other words, a screen to be displayed next) in each of the screens. With this feature, even if an amount of information as the screen switching information increases in association with an increase in the number of selectable (swichable) displayed screens, because the screen editing unit automatically sets the information for each screen therein, the processing time can largely be reduced. Further, since the hierarchical structure can easily be grasped from the screen shift chart, management of shifting of screens becomes easy even if the amount of information as the screen switching information increases.
A screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention comprises a printing unit (which corresponds to a printing section 35 in the embodiment described later) for printing and outputting the screen information.
The screen editor according to this invention creates a screen shift chart (documents) which contains a hierarchical structure in order to manage the shifting states of the screens while the printing unit prints the created screen shift chart. With this feature, the time required for creating the screen shift chart can largely be reduced.
A screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention comprises a communicating unit (which corresponds to a communicating section 36 in the embodiment described later) for transmitting the screen information to a display unit through a communication line.
The screen editor according to this invention prepares screen information such as the screen switching information, while the communicating unit transmits the prepared screen information through a communication line or the like. With this feature, the time required for setting the screen information for each screen therein can be reduced.
A screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention comprises a screen information managing unit (which corresponds to a data managing section 37 in the embodiment described later) for managing screen information.
The screen editor according to this invention stores and manages the screen information including the prepared screen switching information, the display information, and the component information or the like in the screen information managing unit. With this feature, the screen editor can easily respond to the processing required for retrieving the information, changing the displayed screen, and changing the target to be switched.
In a screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention, a screen editing unit has screen symbols with which conditions for switching the screens and component information can be expressed, and the screen editing unit creates the screen shift chart using these screen symbols.
In the screen editor according to this invention, when creating a screen shift chart the screen editing unit expresses a hierarchical structure by using the screen symbols as well as an interconnection chart between these symbols. With this feature, the conditions required for switching the screens and component information, and forms thereof are standardized and unified. This allows operability of creating the screen shift chart to be enhanced and realize an easier management of the hierarchical structure because the various conditions and information are more easily be understood.
In a screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention, a screen editing unit determines whether description in the created screen shift chart is generated according to the specification of a prespecified hierarchical structure or not, and issues a notice to that effect when it is determined that the description does not satisfy the specification.
The screen editor according to this invention automatically determines, when an unwanted screen is deleted or when the target screen is changed or the like, the mismatch in the screen shift chart, and issues a notice to that effect when a mismatch is detected. With this feature, the screen switching information corresponding to all the related screens can more easily be corrected, a chance of occurrence of an omission of correction or of an improper correction can be reduced, and further the time required for creation of a screen shift chart and correction thereof can be reduced.
In a screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention, the screen editing unit confirms, when a previously created screen is specified again as a target screen to be switched thereto at the time of creating a screen shift chart, that there is no violation of the rules in the prespecified hierarchical structure, and then automatically sets the screen switching information for the screen.
The screen editor according to this invention automatically sets, when a target screen to be switched thereto of a screen is identical to that previously created and if resetting of the information does not generate inconsistency in the screen shift chart, the screen switching information for the screen. With this feature, the time and efforts in preparing the same screen switching information again can be omitted. Further, the processing time can largely be reduced because the screen editing unit automatically sets the previously prepared screen switching information.
In a screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention, a screen editing unit automatically generates a screen shift chart by extracting screen switching information from previously prepared screen information and linking between screens according to the extracted information.
In the screen editor according to this invention, the screen shift chart is not created through an operation by a person who wants to create a screen but the screen editing unit automatically creates a screen shift chart by utilizing the previously prepared screen information. With this feature, the hierarchical structure of a displayed screen which does not have a screen shift chart can also be managed.
In a screen editor according to another aspect of the present invention, a screen editing unit automatically reflects, when the screen shift chart is changed, the changed section and sections related to the change to the screen information.
The screen editor according to this invention automatically corrects, when an unwanted screen is deleted or when the target screen is changed or the like, the screen information for all the related screens. With this feature, there is no need to correct the screen switching information set on all the related screens. Thus, a chance of occurrence of an omission of correction or of an improper correction can be eliminated, and further the time required for correction of the screen shift chart can be reduced.